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GOLD MEDAL SPOTLIGHT

Gold Medal Gift Guide

Gold Medal Gift Guide

Surely you know somebody who loves outdoor cooking who deserves a gift for the holidays, birthday, anniversary, or just for being wonderful. There he is, right in the mirror! Here are our selections of best ideas, all Pitmaster Award winners or Gold Medalist, listed by price.

Masterbuilt MPS 340/G ThermoTemp XL Propane Smoker

The First Propane Smoker With A Thermostat Makes This Baby Foolproof

Set ThermoTemp's dial from 175° to 350°F and the thermostat inside will adjust the burner just like an indoor kitchen oven. All you need to do is add wood to the tray above the burner to start smokin'.

If you have a Weber Kettle, you need the Slow 'N' Sear

The Good-One Is A Superb Grill And A Superb Smoker All In One

The Good-One Open Range is a charcoal grill with an offset smoke chamber attached. It is dramatically different from a traditional offset smoker. The grill sits low in front and doubles as a firebox for the smoke chamber which is spliced on above and behind so it can work like a horizontal offset smoker only better. By placing the heat source behind and under the smokebox instead of off to the side, Open Range produces even temperature from left to right, something almost impossible to achieve with a standard barrel shaped offset.

G&F Suede Welder's Gloves

Heat Resistant Gloves With Extra Long Sleeves Hold The Hot Stuff

If you're using oven mitts at the grill, it's time to trade up. Say hello to these suede welder's gloves. They're heat resistant enough to handle hot grill grates, and flexible enough to handle tongs. The extra long sleeves even let you reach deep into the firebox to move hot logs without getting burned. Our Fave.

Is This Superb Charcoal Grill A Kamado Killer?

The PK-360, with 360 square inches of cooking space, this rust free, cast aluminum charcoal grill is durable and easy to use. Four-way venting means it's easy to set up for two zone cooking with more control than single vent Kamado grills. It is much easier to set up for 2-zone cooking than any round kamado. Beautifully designed and completely portable. Meathead says it is his preferrred grill.

GrillGrates Take Gas Grills To The Infrared Zone

GrillGrates(TM) amplify heat, prevent flareups, make flipping foods easier, keep small foods from committing suicide, kill hotspots, are easier to clean, flip over to make a fine griddle, and can be easily removed and moved from one grill to another. You can even throw wood chips, pellets, or sawdust between the rails and deliver a quick burst of smoke to whatever is above. Every gas grill needs them.

The Pit Barrel Cooker May Be Too Easy

The PBC has a rabid cult following for good reason. It is absolutely positively without a doubt the best bargain on a smoker in the world. Period. This baby will cook circles around the cheap offset sideways barrel smokers in the hardware stores because temperature control is so much easier. Best of all, it is only $299 delivered to your door!

Our Favorite Backyard Smoker

The amazing Karubecue is the most innovative smoker in the world. The quality of meat from this machine is astonishing. At its crux is a patented firebox that burns logs above the cooking chamber and sucks heat and extremely clean blue smoke into the thermostat controlled oven. It is our favorite smoker, period.

Charcoal or wood fueled smokers are the gold standard and extremely popular for backyard chefs. The taste is top notch and you get to play with fire. Who could ask for more?

The problem with most charcoal and log burners is that they require a bit more nursing than electric smokers, gas smokers, or pellet smokers. You have to monitor and fine tune the fuel and air supply in order to keep the temp within your target range. This takes practice. Some are easier to control than others. With the temp yo-yoing up and down, it can be difficult to estimate when the meat will be ready; so cooks typically ruin a few meals learning a new smoker. Cook too hot and the meat will dry out and be tough. Too cool and you will serve raw meat. Set the air dampers incorrectly and the smoke can turn the food bitter.

If you are going to buy a charcoal or log pit, my best advice is to please buy a good one, invest in a really good thermometer, and plan to hang out on the patio during the cook. Have plenty of beer on hand. And don't invite the boss to dinner until you have the darn thing figgered out.

There are a lot of cheap units in Wally World, K-Mart, Lowes, and Home Depot. If budget limits you to a cheapo, remember this: When it comes to charcoal burners, it is important to pick the one that looks like it will control air flow the best. You need the ability to regulate the air intake near the coals in order to lower or raise the temp. You want a tight and thick cooking chamber so the meat will be heated evenly and be bathed in smoke from one end to the other, and you want a vent on the far end, which is usually left open during cooking. If you can't control temp and smoke, you can't cook.

In answer to the most frequently asked question, the ones I recommend most for home cooks are the Pit Barrel Cooker and the Backwoods (more expensive).

I know you want to buy an offset like the one above. It looks so macho. So cool. It says "I'm serious about barbecue".I do not recommend any small inexpensive offsets. I especially mean the Brinkmann Pitmaster, Brinkmann Smoke 'N Pit Professional (a.k.a. SNPP), Char-Broil Silver Smoker, Char-Broil American Gourmet, and especially the Char-Griller Smokin Pro. They are a serious pain in the pork butt. The more expensive heavy duty offsets, let's say $500 and up, are fine cookers, but still require more skill than other designs.

Why? Let me count the ways: First of all, smoke and heat want to go up, not sideways. They leak badly so it is impossible to control airflow and airflow controls temperature. And they are much hotter on the side next to the firebox than on the side next to the chimney, so if you put on six slabs of ribs, some will be done way sooner than the others. Yes, you can move them around, but that's a pain, and they still come out uneven.

The air leaks and thin metal pose other problems. They are a bitch to work with in cold weather, and the increased airflow through the leaks and can dry out your meat. That hot air seeping out the doors carries with it moisture from your meat.

Yes, I know you see the big huge trailer mounted offsets on TV, and there are some smaller backyard versions the look a lot like the $200 models at the Home Depot, but they are designed very differently. Offsets Like Lang and Horizon are made with thick steel that retains and distributes heat well. The doors and vents seal tight. Some have reverse flow, a system that ducts the heat and smoke across the bottom below the food so they enter the cooking chamber on the side opposite the firebox and flow back across the food to the firebox side where the chimney is mounted. The duct also warms and radiated heat upward. Alas, they are not usually in the hardware stores, and they are not cheap. Click here to see an article that explains the difference between cheap direct flow and reverse flow offsets, and the modifications owners have had to do to get their cheap offsets to behave.

Yes, offsets look cool, but the cheap ones have turned more people off barbecue than any other cooker. That's why they're so cheap on Craig's List. After one season of frustration, owners dump them. Please resist the temptation. If you have to look macho, get a drum smoker (below). Units like the Pit Barrel Cooker are about the same price as the cheap offsets and they work a lot better. There's an inexpensive kit that will have you up and running for under $200, and cooking circles around the offsets.

Get a drum smoker, cheap!

As I beg you above, please do not by an offset smoker unless you spend about $1,000. If you want something that makes you look macho, and something that really works, get a drum smoker. Here are two that have earned our gold medal:

1) Sterling Ball and his team at BigPoppaSmokers.com have created a kit that you can buy for less than $140. You supply the drum. If you click the link I tell you how to get one. This kit significantly reduces the cost, time required, and probability of error. And the results can cook competition worthy meat. Really. To assemble it you will need an electric drill, an adjustable wrench or a 7/8" and a 7/16" wrench, a tape measure, and a straight edge.

Accessories, toys, tools, gadgets

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